Treasurer hopefuls size up fossil-fuel divestment options
Democratic treasurer candidate Deborah Goldberg has expressed interest in moving the state's $61 billion state pension fund out of fossil fuel investments while her own personal mutual fund holdings include some fossil fuel assets.
All three candidates for treasurer have advocated for putting state employees' retirement money to work in one way or another to nudge the global marketplace away from oil and gas, toward renewable energy. All three also have some indirect personal stake in the fossil fuel industry, which environmentalists worry is sowing climate turmoil one puff of exhaust at a time.
Goldberg's fossil fuel holdings are through mutual funds not individual stocks, according to a statement of financial interest that all state office seekers are required to file with the Ethics Commission. Republican Mike Heffernan owns stock in Quicksilver Resources, a natural gas and oil exploration company. Green-Rainbow candidate Ian Jackson also has investments in mutual funds that include fossil fuel. Goldberg said at a recent debate that she is in favor of divesting from fossil fuel "on a personal level" and told the News Service she has begun the conversation about moving her own money away from fossil fuel.
"I had already started conversations with my investment advisors during the campaign, that I wanted them to start looking for mutual funds that did not include fossil fuels, and other socially responsible funds," Goldberg said. She said, "Obviously in the midst of a primary and now a general campaign, I have not had a lot of time to work with them."
Goldberg had a wide lead in a September poll, and whoever wins on Nov. 4 will preside over meetings with state pension fund officials in addition to the treasurer's other responsibilities. The notion of pulling the pension found out of fossil fuel investments has gained traction in some environmentalist quarters and was a topic of discussion in the Democratic primary when Goldberg said, "I support divestment of fossil fuels and doing so in a way that doesn't impact the pension fund negatively."
"You've got to be consistent on your positions," Heffernan told the News Service.
Heffernan has argued that state pension fund managers should use their stake in gas companies to encourage them to venture more into renewable energy. The Wellesley businessman said he has not used his proxy powers to influence Quicksilver in a similar fashion.
"It's a small individual position," Heffernan told the News Service. "I have not been active as an individual investor on proxies."
Jackson, an Arlington resident who supports divesting fossil fuel from the state pension fund, said he has little say over the retirement account of his employer, the marketing company Harte Hanks, but he should have looked into his options with other funds.
"I should really walk the walk and investigate my options with the old 401Ks where I have been lazy in not rolling them over," Jackson told the News Service. Asked if his failure to move money out of fossil fuel underscored the difficulty pension fund managers would have, Jackson said, "It shows some difficulty, but larger investors have more control over where they put it even though it's more difficult because it's more money."
In a late September Suffolk University poll of 500 likely voters conducted for the Boston Herald, Goldberg led Heffernan 44-20 while Jackson trailed even farther behind with 5 percent support.
Concerns over the role burning fossil fuels play in global warming have sparked a global movement, with limited success, in encouraging large pension funds and endowments to sell off their holdings in oil and coal companies. Others have warned that a ban or limits on state fossil fuel stocks would shackle the investment managers and potentially forgo returns that provide needed funds for retired public employees.
Goldberg said proxy pressure has not achieved results with the major oil companies, and said divestment could be achieved in a prudent and cautious manner that protects the fund that provides for retired state employees.
"Treasurer's number one responsibility is the retirement security of our seniors, and making sure that our pension system is solid and growing. And I start with that, and then look at what we can do moving forward on the other issues that do impact our community," Goldberg told the News Service.
Heffernan said proxy campaigns would be "much less" expensive than divestment, and said fund managers are generally already engaged in proxy voting.
"We have very effective ways to promote social change that don't cost us a dime. I'm not sure why we have to take the investment risk, the administrative burden, and the other associated costs," Heffernan said.
Unlike Goldberg and Jackson, who are primarily or entirely invested in mutual funds and bonds, Heffernan has several stock holdings, according to the candidates' statements of financial interest, which are filed with the Ethics Commission. Heffernan's stocks include Google, Starbucks, the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, Visa and Verizon.
Heffernan said that if elected he would "make sure" that he was "in line" with the "letter and the spirit" of the conflict of interest laws.
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